Antiseizing safety device for motor or the like vehicles

ABSTRACT

A safety device for motor vehicles includes an electric contact which is controlled by bellows responding to oil pressure and which controls by means of a relay the opening of the ignition circuit of the engine when oil pressure is excessive. The contact closes automatically when oil pressure drops below the safety limit. An auxiliary contact is controlled by a relay connected with the starting motor and is connected with a time switch to keep the ignition circuit closed during the starting of the engine until oil pressure is raised to a normal value. Another contact controls the first-mentioned relay and is used to open the ignition circuit when temperature of oil or water becomes excessive.

United States Patent ANTISEIZING SAFETY DEVICE FOR MOTOR OR THE LIKE VEHICLES 2 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

11.8. CI 317/9 B, 307/10 R Int. Cl 1102i 7/18 Field of Search 307/ 10 PR; 317/9 18 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,854,571 4/1932 Albertson 317/9 IB 3,116,729 1/1964 Crowe 307/10 PR Primary Examiner-James D. Trammell Attorney-Richards & Geier ABSTRACT: A safety device for motor vehicles includes an electric contact which is controlled by bellows responding to oil pressure and which controls by means of a relay the opening of the ignition circuit of the engine when oil pressure is excessive. The contact closes automatically when oil pressure drops below the safety limit. An auxiliary contact is controlled by a relay connected with the starting motor and is connected with a time switch to keep the ignition circuit closed during the starting of the engine until oil pressure is raised to a normal value. Another contact controls the first-mentioned relay and is used to open the ignition circuit when temperature of oil or water becomes excessive.

ANTISEIZING SAFETY DEVICE FOR MOTOR OR THE LIKE VEHICLES The present invention concerns a safety device which makes it possible to avoid the seizing of an engine of a motor vehicle by automatically stopping the engine when the pressure of the oil in the lubricating circuit is too low or whenever the temperature of the lubricating oil or that of the cooling water is too high.

As is well known, warning lights are now used in motor vehicles to warn the driver if the oil pressure drops below a certain limit or if the temperatures of the oil and water rise above certain limits. The illuminated warning lights are not always noticed by the driver and this may result in serious consequences such as the complete seizing-up of the engine.

With the use of the device of the present invention, the engine stops automatically because the ignition circuit is interrupted when the pressure of the oil in the lubricating circuit falls below a predetermined limit or the temperature of the oil or water rises above a predetermined limit. This interruption is independent of the presence of the conventional warning lights which continue to operate as usual.

According to the present invention an antiseizing safety device for motor or the like vehicles, is characterized by the feature that an electric contact, controlled by bellows responding to the pressure of the oil, controls, by means of a relay, the opening of the ignition circuit of the engine of the motor vehicle which similarly automatically closes when the pressure of the oil falls below a safety limit.

For the purpose of preventing the failure of ignition at the beginning of the starting of the engine, when the oil pressure is low, the contacts of a second relay, provided with a time switch which keeps the circuit closed until the pressure of the oil has reached the normal working value, are connected in parallel with the contacts of the above-mentioned relay. Such a relay is closed automatically when the electric starting motor is fed and remains closed for a predetermined time by a conventional time switch.

Similarly, other electric thermostat contacts, for example of the bimetalic strip type, sensitive to increases in the temperature of the oil and possibly of the water, control by way of the auxiliary relay, the opening of the contact connected in the ignition circuit of the vehicle in order to interrupt the ignition current when the temperature of the oil or of the water exceeds a predetermined safety limit.

The invention will now be described further, by way of ex ample, with reference to the accompanying single drawing which shows the basic electrical circuit of the safety device.

The device has an electric contact 1 controlled by bellows reacting to the pressure of engine oil and connected in the feed circuit of the energizing coil 2 of the relay. A contact 3 is controlled by contact 1 and is normally closed and connected in series in the feed circuit of the ignition coil 4 of the motor vehicle.

The contact 1 closes when the oil pressure falls below a predetermined safety limit causing the lighting of warning lamp 5 with which the vehicle is normally provided, and the energizing of the coil 2 of the relay so as to open the contact 3 and thus interrupt the ignition circuit of the engine.

When first starting an engine, the oil pressure remains low for an initial period and it is therefore, necessary to shunt the contact 3 by means of a contact 6 controlled by a relay 7 which is fed by the same voltage which controls the starting relay 8, the contacts of which feed the starting motor 9 of the vehicle.

The contact 6 remains closed for a period determined by a time switch 10, for example, of the clockwork type.

The feed circuit of the ignition coil 4 of the vehicle therefore, remains closed by contact 6 for a sufficient time to enable the pressure of the oil to be raised to a value such as to permit the opening of the contacts 1 and, consequently, closing of contact 3.

A second contact 11, for example, of the thermostatic bimetalic strip type, is closed when the temperature of the oil exceeds a predeterrmned limit lighting the warning lamp 12 with which the vehicle is normally provided and feeding the aforementioned relay coil 2. The feed circuit of the coil 4 of the vehicle is therefore also interrupted in the case of a dangerous rise in the temperature of the oil.

Furthermore, another electric thermostat contact (not shown), similar to contact 11, may be arranged to be controlled by an excessive increase in the temperature of the water of the cooling circuit of the vehicle and also be connected in a manner identical to that of the contact 11 for feeding the coil 2 of the relay.

Similar devices sensitive to the temperature of a fluid may be disposed in any other circuit lubricating parts of the vehicle for automatically stopping the engine in the event of an excessive rise in the temperature of such fluid. Also other biassed oil-pressure-sensitive means may be provided instead of the bellows and be of any suitable and known kind.

The special details of construction of the device and any variation in the circuit may be modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

l. A safety device for the engine of a motor vehicle having an ignition circuit, a starting motor connected with the ignition circuit, and a starting circuit connected with said motor and said ignition circuit, said device comprising a pair of contacts, bellows reacting to engine oil pressure and adapted to close the contacts when oil pressure drop is excessive, a waming lamp connected in parallel with said contacts, a relay having an energizing coil connected in parallel with said lamp and said contacts and a contact closing member actuated by said coil, another pair of contacts, said closing member being adapted to close said other pair of contacts, a third pair of contacts in said ignition circuit, said other pair of contacts being connected in parallel with said third pair of contacts, another relay having an energizing coil connected with said starting circuit and a contact closing member adapted to close the third pair of contacts, and a time switch operatively connected with said other relay.

2. A safety device in accordance with claim 1, comprising another warning lamp connected in parallel with the firstmentioned lamp and a temperature-responsive contact switch connected in series with said other lamp. 

1. A safety device for the engine of a motor vehicle having an ignition circuit, a starting motor connected with the ignition circuit, and a starting circuit connected with said motor and said ignition circuit, said device comprising a pair of contacts, bellows reacting to engine oil pressure and adapted to close the contacts when oil pressure drop is excessive, a warning lamp connected in parallel with said contacts, a relay having an energizing coil connected in parallel with said lamp and said contacts and a contact closing member actuated by said coil, another pair of contacts, said closing member being adapted to close said other pair of contacts, a third pair of contacts in said ignition circuit, said other pair of contacts being connected in parallel with said third pair of contacts, another relay having an energizing coil connected with said starting circuit and a contact closing member adapted to close the third pair of contacts, and a time switch operatively connected with said other relay.
 2. A safety device in accordance with claim 1, comprising another warning lamp connected in parallel with the first-mentioned lamp and a temperature-responsive contact switch connected in series with said other lamp. 